Hi everybody and welcome to another edition of Project Rhythm Seed’s Free Music Friday. Today we are excited to offer you a full EP of remixes from Mayer Hawthorne. On a prior FMF last year we brought you his Impressions EP, a fabulous collection of cover tunes. That was a huge crowd favorite and is still available here. Read more...

Last Wednesday, June 15th, 2011 marked the release of episode #43 of “Live From Daryl’s House”. This particular episode featured Project Rhythm Seed favorite, Mayer Hawthorne, as the special musical guest. I’ve been a fan of Daryl Hall’s ever since I saw him and John Oates live at The Roxy Theater many years ago. He never ceases to amaze me in his effortless approach and his incredible vocal prowess and musicianship. But Daryl Hall paired up with Mayer Hawthorne is nothing short of spectacular. You can see it in the faces of the band members, who include Booker T. Jones on organ. Here is Mayer and Daryl singing Mayer’s song “Strange Arrangement”. Read more...

Not once in the history of Project Rhythm Seed has the same artist been featured twice in one week. But Mayer Hawthorne has now changed that. On Wednesday of this week we featured him under our Rhythm Seed Artist Spotlight (you can read that article here). As part of our spotlight piece, we offered up his version of ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky”. Now Mayer and Stones Throw Records have generously offered up his entire new EP called Impressions. It just came out on Wednesday. Impressions is entirely made up of cover songs and recorded at different locations and times. Mayer’s explanations, as to how he picked each track and why, are below. Read more...

Mayer Hawthorne grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, just outside of Detroit, and vividly remembers, as a child, driving with his father and tuning the car radio in to the rich soul and jazz history the region provided. “Most of the best music ever made came out of Detroit,” claims the singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, who counts Isaac Hayes, Leroy Hutson, Mike Terry, and Barry White among his influences, but draws the most inspiration from the music of Smokey Robinson, Curtis Mayfield, and the legendary songwriting and production trio of Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, and Eddie Holland Jr. Read more...